Workstations employing an interrelated worksurface and seat are well known, and such workstations have generally permitted the worksurface and/or the seat to be adjusted in height. The height adjustment, however, has traditionally been manual and individual, that is, the worksurface and/or seat is adjustable in height independent of the other, and the adjustment normally can be accomplished only when the operator is not seated at the workstation since the height adjustment mechanism traditionally is conveniently adjustable only when the weight of the operator is removed from the workstation. Further, most of these workstations, even those employing height adjustment, generally permit such adjustment through only a limited extent, and often do not conveniently permit height adjustment through a sufficient range to accommodate the operator in either a sitting or standing position. These known workstations also typically do not provide for an interrelated and simultaneous adjustment in the position (i.e. height) of both the worksurface and seat, and particularly do not permit such adjustment due to physical interaction of the operator while in a seated or workstation-occupying position.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved adjustable workstation which is believed to overcome many of the aforementioned disadvantages.
More specifically, this invention relates to an improved adjustable workstation employing a seat and a worksurface which are each height adjustable, with the seat and worksurface being interconnected by an appropriate connecting structure, such as a linkage or mechanism, which actively interacts with the workstation operator (i.e. occupant) so that the operator can readily and simultaneously adjust the height of both the seat and worksurface due to physical interaction of the operator with the connecting structure, while the operator is occupying or utilizing the workstation, to thus permit the operator to quickly and readily vary the height through a significant range to thus vary the ergonomic positional relationships and accommodate use of the workstation from various seating positions up to and including a standing position.
In the improved operator-interactive workstation of this invention, the workstation includes a supporting frame provided with a linkage thereon including a first vertically movable support member which mounts a seat, and a second vertically movable support member which mounts a worksurface. These supporting members are appropriately interconnected so as to simultaneously move generally vertically upwardly or downwardly when the linkage is activated by the operator. The linkage includes an operator-reactive member, such as a foot support, which can be controlled by the feet of the operator to permit the height of the worksurface and seat to be simultaneously adjusted, either upwardly or downwardly, while the operator remains seated. The workstation includes a manually-releasable brake which cooperates to lock the linkage, and hence lock the seat and worksurface, in a selected position. This brake is manually released by the operator, who in turn adjusts the linkage through interaction with the foot support when adjustment in the position or height of the workstation is desired.
In the improved operator-interactive workstation of this invention, as aforesaid, there is also preferably provided an adjusting structure which cooperates with the worksurface to permit the position thereof, particularly the front-to-back horizontal position thereof relative to the seat, to be selectively adjusted by the operator. This adjustment mechanism includes a releasable brake structure which normally locks the worksurface in a first front-to-back position relative to the seat, with this latter brake structure being manually releasable by the operator to permit the position of the worksurface to be adjusted relative to the seat, in accordance with the desired positional relationship of the operator.
Other structural and operational advantages of the workstation according to the present invention will be apparent to persons familiar with structures of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.